Yesterday I was able to actually use my yak for a pleasurable paddle vs. targeting specific ares that I wanted to get to & paddling like mad to get there ASAP, get out & fish.

I was extremely pleased with my ride:
- in strong currents that we were drifting with, feathering the paddle as a rudder got me exactly where I wanted to go, throw in a little lean and the response was better than expected.
- paddling across strong currents, no problem with a strong sweep on the down current side and a small counter stroke on the upstream side
- paddling into the current against the wind was the most impressive, I've done this before and not been that impressed but for some reason yesterday the response from the boat was the best it's ever been

2 additional factors:
- after working off a slightly muddied head from the night before, I feel like I finally mastered using offset paddles
- I think I'm in better physical condition than last year